Have you been accused of illegally entering or remaining on someone's property? If so, this is categorized as the crime of burglary across New York and serious consequences may apply if you don’t take action immediately. Burglary is a felony offense regardless of the classification and for this reason alone, it’s worth a phone call to an experienced New York criminal defense attorney experienced in burglary.
The police will take swift action to pursue a burglary case and you could be facing significant consequences like fines, prison time and more, if you don’t get help from an attorney who cares about protecting your rights. No one else may be looking out for your during the course of your case, but a lawyer should.
Common Defenses to Burglary in New YorkIf the police have overstepped their bounds and violated your rights in the process of arresting you or pursuing this case, this may be a foundational element to your ability to challenge the charges against you. Your Nassau County burglary defense attorney may be able to get the charges against you dropped or reduced based on this fact alone so you need to share the information surrounding your arrest with your criminal defense lawyer immediately. Anyone accused and convicted of burglary will have a long road ahead of them trying to protect their freedom, so you can’t afford to wait.
Any New York burglary attorney can explain that there are six different types of burglary in New York. This theft crime can be committed when an individual enters into someone else's home for the purposes of engaging in a criminal act. Burglary in the third degree in New York is a felony offense.
If you are convicted, you are looking at up to 7 years in jail and the minimum sentence is 1 to 3 years in jail. Burglary in the second degree is categorized as a violent class C felony. The minimum punishment, if convicted is 3.5 years in jail, but the maximum sentence that can imposed after a burglary conviction is 15 years. This usually is assessed when you enter a home illegally and display a weapon or hurt someone inside the building. Burglary in the first degree is a violent class B felony with a minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of up to 25 years in prison.
This very serious charge is considered on the same severity as attempted murder and can include situations in which an accused person commits a burglary in a home and harms another person, is armed with a weapon or possess burglar’s tools. The possession of burglar’s tools is a separate charge and is a class A misdemeanor. This charge on its own may carry an alternative punishment that allows you to avoid jail time, although the maximum sentence is up to a year in jail. How your case is pursued and the types of questions you may have will vary based on the facts of your individual arrest and the incident itself.
Being able to share your concerns with someone who is your advocate from day one is crucial. Police officers may try to encourage you to share as much as information as possible about the crime and what you were doing on the property. However, this is rarely in your best interests to provide them with everything, they need to accomplish their job.
Police officers are trained to try to get you to corporate so that they can learn more information that will ultimately help in your conviction. Sharing this information with an experienced Nassau County burglary defense attorney, however, gives you the benefit of the doubt that your lawyer will use all of these details to craft a meaningful defense strategy for you in court. The right lawyer will be able to help you navigate this process more affectively and can prove to be a valuable asset as you move forward to try to keep this matter off your record and to have it resolved completely.
An attorney can tell you more about what you might expect in your case as each criminal charge is different and the facts of your individual burglary allegations will have an influence on your claim.